PSU competes well in invitational

Pittsburg State University competed in the 2022 Wendy’s/Pittsburg Invitational inside of the Robert W. Plaster Center. Both the men’s and women’s teams competed against NCAA Division II and junior colleges in this mid-season competition.

The men’s team won three individual events during the invitational. L.J. Kiner, a freshman jumper from Humble, Texas, won the long jump event with a top distance of 7.47 meters. His jump beat Wayland Baptist’s Zachary Johnson by 0.17 meters and Butler Community College’s Richard Newman by 0.21 meters.

Bryce Grahn, senior distance runner, won the Men’s 3000-meter run with a time of 8:22.17 minutes. Grahn beat his teammate Matthew Oglesby, senior, who finished second with a time of 8:27.17. Pittsburg State finished with 5 of the top 6 times in the event.

The men’s distance medley team competed against several strong opponents including Wayland Baptist and Abilene Christian. PSU was successful in finishing in first and second place in the final run of the day.

The first-place team was led by senior runners Conner Southard and Matt Wilson and supported by sophomore runners Braylen Brewer and Mason Strader.

With a time of 10:06.00 minutes, they beat the second PSU team of senior runner Colin Weber and sophomore runners Sam Tudor, Graham Hudelson, and Matthew Oglesby.

The women’s team boasted 4 individual event victories in the pole vault, triple jump, 200-meter run, and distance medley.

Isabelle Peters, freshman pole vaulter for PSU, finished above three other gorillas to finish first overall in her event with a height of 4.13 meters. The second-place position was taken by Kyla Davis, freshman, and the third-place spot was taken by freshman Megan McManis.

The women’s triple jump event was won by PSU’s Auna Childress. Childress secured the event for the gorillas with a distance of 11.73 meters. The jump beat out strong competition by New Mexico Junior College and McPherson.

Christine Williams, junior runner for the gorillas, won the 200-meter race with a time of 24.43 seconds. She beat out Southwest Baptist’s Zara Brown to secure the win for PSU.

The last win by the women’s team came from the distance medley team of Kate Dawson, Madison Burt, Claire Bruening, and Hannah Honeyman. The team ran well against strong competition from Rogers State, Southwest Baptist, and the second PSU medley team. The team finished with a time of 12:24.69 seconds.

The women’s team posted many other notable finishes in the invitational.  Camryn Williams second-place finish in weight throw and Trace Mosby finished second in the high jump and fourth in the 60-meter hurdles.

Cole Sample, freshman thrower, finished third in the weight throw and Braylen Brewer lowered the school record in the 400-meter run with a third-place finish and a time of 21.45 seconds.

The Gorillas will be in action at home in their final regular season meet for the seventh annual Indoor Gorilla Classic. The meet will be hosted inside the Robert W. Plaster Center and will begin at 2:00 pm. on Friday, Feb. 11.

Following this event, the Gorillas will begin to prepare for the post-season with competition at the MIAA Indoor Championships from Feb. 25 through 27.